In January, I talked about some changes that we would be making at HTR Media, bold changes designed to serve our communities better. Today, we're taking the first concrete steps towards this transformation, and I wanted you know what it all means and a bit about why we're doing it.

We're just at the beginning of this transition at HTR Media, but as we take these first steps, I want to keep you, our loyal readers, and the community informed.

The HTR remains strong and is the leading source of information in our community. On Friday, we were honored as the best newspaper of our size by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association for the second year in a row.

However, we're not content to rest on our laurels, and we are making these changes so that the strong position we have now will continue into the future.

All of the existing staff were offered the opportunity to take part in this reinvention, but some have chosen to retire or pursue new directions in their careers. I want to honor their service and thank them publicly for helping us through the first stage of this transition.

All of us will have new or changed roles, including me. For the past year, I've been the executive editor of both HTR Media and Sheboygan Press Media, our sister paper in Sheboygan County. I'll now be taking over as executive editor of a newly formed four newspaper group that includes the HTR and Sheboygan Press Media, and adds The Northwestern Media in Oshkosh and Action Reporter Media in Fond du Lac.

We will continue to have top editors in each community. Russ Budzisz, currently the news editor of HTR Media, decided he needed a change, but he will work with us as I seek a new leader for the newsroom.

Dan Benson, who has been serving as news editor for the Sheboygan Press Media, will soon be starting in a new role as the engagement editor for all four newspapers. He will continue to be based in Sheboygan and will serve as the top local editor there.

Dan will be more than a traditional opinions editor. He has helped pioneer features such as our Community Conversations series that has touched on important issues such as downtown redevelopment efforts in Sheboygan and the rising problem of drugs in Manitowoc County. Dan also is responsible for the Local Lens analysis series, which highlights local voices and views on national or international issues.

A community content specialist will be helping Dan with opinion pages, engagement and analysis features and even public debates and events. We are looking for someone to fill this role.

Sarah Kloepping will be our new community engagement reporter. You already know Sarah for the great video stories that she has been doing for us over the past several years, and she is excited about this new role.

As I said when I announced the changes, we're also adding a business reporter, and I'm very happy to announce that Josh Lintereur will be taking that position, covering business developments for both HTR Media and Sheboygan Press Media. In addition to Josh, we have added a state business development team, and their first task will be to build on our workforce development campaign, State of Opportunity.

Tom Dombeck will be our sports reporter. Tom will be supported by Steve Clark, who is our senior sports reporter for the new Lakes group, and Adam Thompson, who will be overseeing prep sports coverage across not only for our four newspapers but also for the Appleton Post-Crescent and the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

And of course, as I mentioned in January, we'll have an expanded Packers team providing you better coverage of your favorite team.

One of my goals after my first year was to find a way to increase our ability to cover the community news you share with us — events, awards, church announcements and the like — while freeing up our journalists to focus on their job of original reporting. Scott Hansen, who has been one of sports reporters in Sheboygan will be our new community news assistant.

Charlie Mathews has decided to retire. I did my best to convince him to stay, but I can't really compete with a new granddaughter. Charlie will be working with us as we seek a government watchdog reporter, a position that will give us greater focus on local government in Manitowoc, Two Rivers and Manitowoc County.

That reporter will be supported in our investigative journalism efforts by a larger Gannett Wisconsin Media I-Team.

Of course, we will continue to cover education. Phil Bock has accepted a community engagement reporter position in Sheboygan, but he'll be working to make sure that we provide coverage of the Manitowoc Schools referendum during the transition as we seek someone of his caliber.

This is just the first step in the changes we're making at HTR Media. I'll keep you posted not only in print and via our digital services, but to achieve our goal of being more engaged in the community, I will start having editor's hours, a time when you can meet me at venues in the community to ask me questions and discuss ideas for making the paper and our community stronger. I'll provide more details in the coming weeks.

I am sure that you have more questions. Feel free to drop me an email or a letter, or better yet, come see me at editor's hours. I'd love to meet you.